Fuzzy Cousin
by Pondering Writer
Summary: An unexpected relative shows up and visits Fuzzy Lumpkins. When the real intentions of the guest become clear, both Fuzzy and the Powerpuff Girls will have to face the new threat.
1. A Special Visit

_**Fuzzy Cousin**_

Chapter 1:

_A Special Visit_

It was November in the city of Townsville. Even so, an early snow storm was coming towards the metropolis: streets, roofs and alleys were already starting to turn white, and the weather was continuing to get worse and worse as the time passed.

A snowfall in November was a rather uncommon event: most of the children inside the houses were happy at the sight of the falling flakes, already thinking of the upcoming battles with snowballs and creations of snowmen. The adults weren't in a good mood, instead thinking about the huge queues they were going to wait in inside their cars, but it was hard to keep sad with all the happiness of the young ones.

The snowstorm, however, prevented everyone from going outside. The heavy wind and the low visibility were sufficient: it wasn't a good idea to let the kids out in that moment. There were various young faces at the windows, waiting for whatever signal which could tell the weather was getting better.

Even in the forest, most of the animals had been taken aback by the unexpected weather event. Most of them were trying to save everything possible in their lairs, preparing for the long period of hibernation.

It seemed like another bother for Fuzzy Lumpkins, another good occasion to get mad at everything and everyone. But it wasn't the case. Fuzzy threw the main door of his wooden hut open and stared at the open space in front of him. Without the cover of trees, the snow storm was more effective than it was in the depth of the forest around the building.

Fuzzy Lumpkins was hit by a sudden blast of wind and flakes of snow in the face. The beast scratched his eyes, cleaning the snow off and revealing... a smile.

"Ahhh!" he said to himself "I love winter! Good thin' it came early this year!"

He returned into the house, shutting the door behind him, then he gave a fast control of the living room: all the windows were closed, and the fireplace had been previously put out.

He smiled again and walked across the room. He suddenly stopped right in front of the armchair he usually rested in. The lumpkin kneeled on the floor and picked up a small plank of wood from the floor. It revealed a secret lock, which he opened right away with a key he withdrew from one of the pockets in his jacket. Eventually, Fuzzy opened a trapdoor and entered a part of the house oblivious to everyone except for him.

The basement seemed to be a smaller copy of the living room on the upper floor: there was a second armchair, a second fireplace which was obviously linked with the chimney of the first one and a poor built bed. Fuzzy went towards the fireplace and lit it up with one of his lighters: the fire revealed a stack of wood piled on the other side of the basement. He closed the trapdoor, locking it with his key from the other side, and lastly let himself fall on the armchair, nearly breaking it.

_This is life... _thought Fuzzy ..._no one botherin' me, tryin' to take ma' property over... I love winter..._

Fuzzy was a being between animals and humans. The secret basement was nothing more than a 'lair' used by him to sleep and hibernate just like animals did. Fuzzy was able to sleep for long periods, waking up only to lit the fire up in case the temperature got too low. He didn't spend the entire winter inside the basement, like most of the animals did, but he was of course less active than he was during the other three seasons.

But this winter, someone was going to actually disturb the lumpkin. Right before he closed his eyes, someone knocked on the door. Fuzzy was only half-asleep, so he thought to just ignore it. But whoever the visitor was, he did not go away. He continued to knock on the door, more and more times.

Fuzzy began to get angry. He stood up from the armchair and listened to the knocks over him, that did not stop but instead got heavier. Suddenly, the house trembled: the knocker had hit the door with a really strong slap. Fuzzy recovered entirely, but he didn't consider how much could the visitor be strong: he instead got really mad at him.

He shouted "WHO DARES ENTER MA' PROPERTY AND WAKIN' ME UP?!". He ran at the trapdoor and abruptly threw it away, breaking the lock. He was already beginning to turn red and increase in height. The beast walked towards the door with huge steps, until he stopped in front of it.

He suddenly opened the door, with a noisy 'SLAM' on the external wall.

Fuzzy immediately turned pink like he was before, and his height decreased. To be precise, it seemed like he got _shorter _than he was normally.

"FUZZY LUMPKINS!" the stranger shouted "COUSIN! It's a pleasure to meet you again, after all these years!"

Fuzzy Lumpkins did not answer: he was open-mouthed, and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Well, nothing to say to your cousin? Let's get inside, I'm curious about your house!"

The _creature _pushed Fuzzy inside, who did not react, and he entered himself, crashing the wall over the main door due to his height.

It was hard to really believe that the creature was Fuzzy's cousin. He was covered by a thick layer of fur as white as the snow outside, except for the face, his hands and his feet, which weren't covered. He did not wear any clothes: his fur was enough for him, even with the snow storm outside.

The face of the creature was more human like than Fuzzy's one, and there were no antennae over his head. In addition, his hands and legs were hard as stone. But what really distinguished the creature from Fuzzy was his size. He was at least two times taller than Fuzzy: the living room had barely enough space to let him stand normally.

In the end, the creature seemed to be what a yeti should look like.

Fuzzy's cousin watched the living room, giving curious glances at the various things. He touched the armchair: he definitively thought that it was too small for him because he simply sat on the floor.

"Now, cousin, how's doing? What are you doing by now?" asked the yeti. Fuzzy didn't answer neither this time. All he could do was thinking: _It can't be possible..._

"What's going on, Fuzzy? The cat stole your tongue?" he laughed "Now, Fuzzy, there must be something you have done during these years except for sleeping... By the way, your house is beautiful! Did you build it yourself?" the creature froze as he spotted something "Do you play a _banjo? _Just like all the family does...I'm curious about your ability, cousin! Go on, play it!"

Fuzzy moved towards the instrument, left on the floor below a window, and mechanically picked it up and strummed some simple notes. Fuzzy was acting like he was a robot, but the yeti didn't notice it, or, at least, didn't show it.

Even a little baby would have been able to play the banjo like Fuzzy just did, but the yeti congratulated him anyway: "Amazing, cousin!". He clapped at him: the claps were so noisy that all the animals that were trying to fall asleep like Fuzzy did in the surroundings of the hut were woke up.

Fuzzy watched the yeti as he began to talk casually about the trip he went into. He wasn't listening to him, but he was trying to get calm and find a solution for the situation. Fuzzy tried his best to gather all the courage was left inside him and called him "...cousin?"

The yeti stopped his speech and watched Fuzzy "What's up, Fuzzy?"

"For... for what reason did you come here?"

The yeti raised an eyebrow "Just told you, stupid! I wanted to come and visit my favourite cousin!"

Fuzzy nervously replied "You know... well... you aren't... welcome... in our homes..."

The yeti looked at Fuzzy for some seconds. Then, he suddenly burst out laughing. Fuzzy just watched him unaware of what was really going to happen. The yeti stopped laughing as suddenly as he began. His mood had changed from the casual, apparently happy one of someone visiting his cousin to another one, more serious and... menacing.

"And then?" he asked with a completely different tone "What are you up to, _cousin? _Do you perhaps want to... drive me away from your house? To order me to '_get offa your property?' "._

"Ahem... yes?" said Fuzzy unconfidently.

"Oh, well..." said the yeti "It seems like I have to explain you how things are really working... _cousin..._"

Fuzzy's cousin stood up, his figure looming over Fuzzy. Then, he knelt until his face was only some centimetres away from the lumpkins' one.

"You know, Fuzzy... you should treat me with some regards... and a bit more of respect. Because, if you don't, things can get a bit... _unsteady_ for you..."

"But wha'ddo you mean? What the heck do you want from me?" asked Fuzzy. For the first time from the moment when he first saw the yeti, there was some trace of determination and annoyance in Fuzzy's voice.

"My real plans go beyond your perception, cousin_... _It's simple: you can restart everything with a 'my dear cousin! You're welcome in my property!'. Otherwise, you have to state your real intentions... now!"

This was too much for Fuzzy Lumpkins. Being treated in this way, in his property, by... _that jerk!_ It was intolerable.

"YOU... YOU AND YOUR STINKY HAIRS MUST TURN AND GET OUTTA HERE NOW!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He began growing and changing colour again. The old Fuzzy had returned, and was really mad at his guest.

The yeti didn't show any signs of fear or nervousness. He simply said: "Good. You made your choice."

Five seconds later, one of the side walls of the hut was crashed by something, or someone, going through it. Fuzzy Lumpkins flew through the snow storm, still raging around him, ending on the trunk of a tree. By the time he landed on the ground, the tree let all the snow it contained fall, covering the poor Fuzzy with two cube meters of cold, wet snow.

For some moments, only the antennae of Fuzzy were visible. Then, he recovered and freed himself from the snow blockage. He tried to state where he was. It was hard to see through the blizzard, but Fuzzy was still able to see the form of his hut. He was going to walk towards it when he heard footsteps... very heavy ones. A big, shadowy form exited the house from the hole in the wall.

Fuzzy froze and stared at the shadow in front of him. It was almost recognizable, though the bad weather, and that made the yeti's appearance a bit sinister... even for an hillbilly like Fuzzy.

"Listen to me, cousin! I won't repeat it!" bellowed the yeti. The voice echoed through the snowstorm despite all the noise made by the wind. "I'm the new owner of your property for now! And I don't want to see your face until I achieved my goals here in Townsville! I give you 30 seconds to go away, starting NOW!"

Fuzzy Lumpkins was the one to jump and attack anyone that spoke words like these to him. However, in this case, Fuzzy turned instantly at the word 'now' and ran away as fast as he could, just like he was pursued by a drove of ravenous dogs.

The yeti did not follow him. He returned into the house and examined the hut. He smiled at the sight of the open trapdoor on the floor. _Very, very well... Thanks, Fuzzy, this is just perfect for my plan... Now, let's get back to business..._

At the same time, Fuzzy stopped running and tried to regain his breath. He was beginning to get wet, but luckily his fur was enough thick to protect him from the low temperature... at least for that moment.

But this wasn't the main concern of Fuzzy. He just escaped from his own property, shooed away like a fly. He actually lost his hut... and that was a great dishonour for a Lumpkin. Fuzzy knew that he had to try to get his property back as fast as he could. If someone of his family came to know of this unfair event... it would be a disaster for his reputation. It could doom him to became a recurring joke forever.

But Fuzzy was enough smart to understand that it wasn't going to be easy. He gained a good amount of strength when he got mad... But the yeti's one was titanic. The creature came directly from Fuzzy's past... A part of his past that he didn't want to remember.

He knew he needed help.

* * *

Blossom was watching the snowstorm through one of the windows of the girls' bedroom. The windows were closed with glass panels, prepared by the Professor to protect the room temporary in case of heavy rain or snow storms.

Blossom liked to watch the snow coming down, even if outside it was more like the snow was being thrown at the window. She thought it was relaxing for her. She wasn't paying attention to the nth argue between her two sisters just behind her. Well, Bubbles and Buttercup weren't really arguing, they were just challenging each other.

"If I were you, I'd consider wearing an helmet, thinking of all the hits you're going to receive!" began Buttercup.

"Ah, yeah? With your legendary, infallible aim?" teased Bubbles "The same aim with which last year you hit Ms. Keane's face instead of me?"

"It was an accident! You know well it wasn't supposed to hit her!"

"Well, you hit her, anyway..." replied Bubbles with a little giggle "If you really want to score a hit on me, Buttercup, maybe you're the one that needs a pair of glasses, not me!"

"Whatever, Bubbles..." grumbled Buttercup "Let's just hope this darn storm is going away, and we'll see who's the best snowball thrower!"

The girls were waiting, just like all the other children in the city. Although they were superheroes, all three of them knew that it wasn't a good idea to challenge the force of nature. For example, their skin protected them from extreme temperatures, but only for a limited amount of time: this explained why the girls needed heavy clothes for winter. In addition, the windy weather could give a lot of problems with their flying ability.

Blossom did not speak up to join the speech. She continued to stare at the weather outside, thinking of the next period. Winter had disadvantages... but a lot of advantages. Leaving alone all the new entertainment possible, Blossom had noticed that the activity of criminality during winter decreased notably. There were less robberies, less burglaries, less of everything. Even some of their worst enemies were inactive. Blossom was certain that Fuzzy Lumpkins was almost never seen in some of his rampages during winter months, and even Mojo Jojo's attacks were less frequent. Unfortunately it wasn't the case for many others like Princess Morebucks and Him, but Blossom didn't mind that.

It was still good to have a period of peace, free from their crimefighting job.

* * *

Fuzzy Lumpkins was walking on a sidewalk in the outskirts of Townsville. He was tired: he had walked for over two hours in the blizzard, which instead of weakening was increasing in strength.

Fuzzy had right away rejected the idea of calling his family for help. He knew that they hated his cousin as much as he did, but his goal was to retrieve his property _without _letting his family know of the event. He had decided to keep it as a last option.

There were few people in Townsville that Fuzzy knew who could help him with his problem. His first thought came to the three he teamed up with long time ago. Fuzzy knew the location of the observatory of Mojo Jojo: he had tried to ask him for help, but after having climbed up all the stairs for the volcano, he'd simply found a note on the metal door:

_The owner of this building, who is the one who's writing this note, is not present at home and won't be present for some time. The reason for my absence, during which I won't be able to..._

It was too much complicated for Fuzzy, given Mojo Jojo's typical way of speech, but he was still able to understand that the infamous ape wasn't at home, for some type of travel around the world to look for new ideas to conquer it, and because he didn't really like winter.

The second possibility was Princess Morebucks. The result of his visit to the Morebucks mansion, however, was even worse. Fuzzy had been welcomed by one of the butlers. He'd been waiting in the huge vestibule, when he had heard something acute far away, something like a scream of a little girl. Some seconds later, a group of big, tough servants appeared, abruptly grabbed Fuzzy and literally threw him away from the house.

The third and last possibility was Him, but Fuzzy rejected it even before trying to ask him for help. It wasn't because he feared Him, or because he thought he would surely refuse. He simply didn't knew where the heck was Him's lair, and how to reach it by foot.

Fuzzy didn't know much about the other villains. He remembered something about a famous robber, a woman that used her hair as a weapon, but he doubted she would help him, given the reaction of Princess at his name.

Fuzzy tried to think of someone else. He also remembered about two gangs that were well known in Townsville, but could they help him with the strength of the creature? The few memories of these two groups weren't exactly the kind of things that could convince Fuzzy to look for their help. Especially one of them.

There was one last choice... But Fuzzy tightened his fists just at the thought... Those darn little boys... Fuzzy remembered too well the time when they took over his property without a reason... _just for fun. _It was a situation like the one he was in at the moment, even though that time he didn't have to leave his home. But still, he couldn't tolerate it. He would have jumped off a skyscraper rather than asking the Rowdyruff Boys for help. They were three of his worst enemies... Perhaps, even worse than...

Fuzzy Lumpkins suddenly stopped walking. He was definitively out of the city centre, and he knew that the woods weren't too far away. But what really captured Fuzzy's attention was where he had stopped.

He slowly turned his head and stared for some seconds in awe at the home of the Powerpuff Girls.

Fuzzy thought if he was really getting crazy. Perhaps it was the snowstorm, perhaps it was the situation... but in his mind, the idea of asking the girls for help was a possible choice. He was a citizen, after all, and he needed some help. It seemed that it was the very last possibility for Fuzzy to find someone able to help him who wasn't a member of his family.

He quietly walked over the pavement that brought to the main door, and pushed the button on the wall.


	2. Weird Alliance

Chapter 2:

_Weird Alliance_

The doorbell of the Utonium household rang. "I'll answer it!" said Professor Utonium as he stood up from the armchair in the living room. He had spent some minutes of rest from his work in the laboratory. _I better be fast, _he thought while he walked towards the main door, _or I will greet a snowman instead of a guest._

He opened the door and welcomed the newcomer: "Hello! How can I be of..."

He stopped his speech and gave a gasp at the sight of _who_ was in front of him. He right away slammed the door shut and leaned against it with his back, like he wanted to make sure it didn't open.

Three little heads appeared on the side of the door to the girls' room. "Who was at the door, Professor?" asked Blossom. All three of them wondered what was that loud noise they heard coming from downstairs.

"There's..." he tried to say "There's... THERE IS A YETI OUT THERE!"

"What?" replied Buttercup, not really believing him "Professor, are you seeing things?"

Professor Utonium did not have the chance to answer her: the door was ripped off and thrown away by a powerful force. Both the Professor and the door flied through the living room, heading for the wall on the other side of the chamber.

"PROFESSOR!" shouted Bubbles alarmed. She flied quickly in the room and stopped the door in its path before it could crash on the wall, bringing the Professor with it. But even before she and the other girls could react more, a figure entered the house. For a moment they also thought it was a real yeti, but then he shook off all the snow that was covering him, which fell on the floor of the living room.

"I'm NOT a yeti! I'm Fuzzy Lumpkins, and..." he began, but he was cut off by an uppercut from Buttercup. Fuzzy was literally sent away from the house through the entrance, which lacked of the door, and he landed outside on the snow in front of the house, head first.

"Are you ok, Professor?" asked Bubbles, worried.

"Yes, I'm fine, honey... I'm just a bit scared." he answered while she let the door away along with him.

Blossom was relieved that Bubbles had reacted enough fast to stop the door; however, the danger was far from going away. "Bubbles, quick! We have a villain to deal with!"

"I'm coming, Blossom!" answered Bubbles as she let the Professor away.

As the blue-eyed puff reached her sisters, they hovered together out of the house and braced themselves for the upcoming fight. Fuzzy's legs were still moving on the snow, and they expected him to free himself any moment. They had to land on the ground: the wind was too strong to let them hover steadily.

"What's going on?" asked Buttercup, annoyed "I can't remember him showing up during winter, leaving alone during a snowfall like this!"

"I don't know, Buttercup... Anyway, I think we'll have to fight him before knowing the answer!" said Blossom. They stopped to talk as one of Fuzzy's hands eventually sprout out of the snow and he began digging to get free.

The girls watched him, ready for everything, as he made his way through the snow. When he stood up, they were bewildered to realize that Fuzzy wasn't mad at them. At least, he was visibly trying to not freak out like he usually did. The sight was so unexpected that none of the girls was able to say a word.

As Fuzzy got nearer to them, he shouted "What's wrong with you _brats?_ Do you always receive people this way?".

Buttercup was as annoyed as he was. She hovered, despite the bad weather, and she stopped herself face to face with him. "Now you listen to me, you _dork._ You arrive here, our worst enemy, and you pretend us to be nice with you? You almost hurt the Professor and you pretend us not to do anything to defend him? You, the one who can't tolerate a single leaf over his house, pretend us to _welcome_ you?!"

As Buttercup talked, Fuzzy seemed to low himself down. But when she finished, he just answered "_Yes! _Your stupid father slammed the door on my face and called me a _yeti!_ That's an insult I cannot tolerate, especially _now!"_

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Lumpkins..." said Buttercup ironically "...if the Professor didn't let a _monster _like you inside!"

"HOW YOU DARE, YOU LITTLE- !" began Fuzzy, bellowing the words. But the argue between him and Buttercup came to a sudden stop.

"SHUT UP!" shouted Blossom. Both Buttercup and Fuzzy watched her oddly as she continued "If you continue to argue this way, we won't be able to understand anything about what's going on! Buttercup, let me talk with him!".

Buttercup watched her with a tell-tale glance about what she thought about her decision, but nevertheless she went away from Fuzzy, who glared at her without a word.

"Now, Fuzzy, would you please tell us why did you ring at our door, if it wasn't to try to fight us?"

This was the most difficult part for Fuzzy. Actually asking his worst enemies for help. He began, babbling the words "Ehm... I'll say... I have no choice, so..."

"Would you please tell us NOW?" complained Buttercup. Blossom motioned her green-eyed sister to keep quiet, but it helped Fuzzy to finally say what he needed to.

"I... I need your help, Powerpuff Girls..." he uttered.

For a moment, the girls just stared at him open-mouthed. Then, Buttercup began laughing hysterically and she fell on the ground, rolling over on the snow. Even Bubbles and Blossom couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"_Help you?" _said Buttercup between the laughs "And for what? Cuttin' wood? Diggin' the garden? You can't be serious!"

"I am serious, you..." Fuzzy stopped talking and made a long breath. He was trying to stay calm and hold all the anger inside. He was enough smart to know that getting mad now wasn't going to help him.

"Now, I'm asking for your help 'cause my property has been taken over, all right?" he continued.

This was even more entertaining for Buttercup, who laughed even louder on the ground.

Bubbles, however, was curious about his problem. "How, Fuzzy? We all know about your strength when you get mad! No one can resist you... except for us, of course..." he specified with a giggle.

"But that thing CAN!" shouted Fuzzy. All the girls got suddenly serious, even Buttercup, who stood up.

"What did you just say?" asked Blossom, interested and suspicious at the same time.

Fuzzy hadn't the chance to answer her, as the voice of the Professor came from the house, barely audible through the snowstorm. "Girls!" he called "The hotline's ringing!".

The Powerpuff Girls forgot immediately about Fuzzy and rushed into the house and over the red phone. As usual, Blossom answered it: "Yes, Mayor? ... Ok, we're going there right now!"

She turned to her sisters "Girls, there has just been a robbery at the art museum!"

"With this weather?" noticed Bubbles, surprised "That thief has to be courageous!"

"...or crazy..." finished Buttercup. Before Bubbles could reply, Blossom continued "We'll know it by the time we arrive there! Let's move!"

They flied through the door away from their home, ignoring both the Professor, who tried in vain to tell them to put on their heavy clothes before leaving, and Fuzzy, who watched them confused. From all the possible evolutions of him asking them for help, this was of course the less expected one. He thought, _What now?_

He decided that, since the girls didn't say no to him, it was a good idea to wait for them in their house. He walked towards the main entrance but right before he entered, Professor Utonium blocked his path.

"What do you think you're going?" he asked, visibly angry.

"Ehm, look, man in a white lab coat..." said Fuzzy, unsure of what to say.

"It's Professor. Professor Utonium" he corrected.

"Whatever, Prof" replied Fuzzy. Professor put his hand over his face in desperation as Fuzzy continued "I was thinkin'... I needed those girls' help, so how about lettin' me him to wait for them and..."

"NO!" shouted the Professor without waiting for him to finish, and he slammed the door shut. Then, he realized that his hand had closed nothing but air as the door was no more present. Fuzzy raised an eyebrow as the Professor felt a mixture of two emotions. Pity for leaving Fuzzy alone in the blizzard outside, and fright for the thought of the last event with the door.

In the end, he said "All right, all right, you can come in, but do not touch anything and just wait in the living room!"

"Relax, Prof, you won't even notice me!" said Fuzzy as he let himself fall on the armchair of the living room, and a loud 'CRACK' was heard. He looked at the TV set and shouted "What in the world is _that? _For what reason would you place an useless crate like that there?"

The Professor watched Fuzzy on the broken armchair, the snow all over the living room and the door still laying on the floor, and he sighed. _I hope the girls will return soon..._

* * *

"Now, Miss Schmitz, calm down. It's all right, there's nothing to worry about!" said Blossom. She was trying to tranquillize a young woman that worked at the reception of the art museum. At her sides, Bubbles and Buttercup watched her without knowing what to do. The woman, who was sitting on the floor, was continuing to stare at Blossom with a uncommon gaze, like she was looking past her.

Apparently, the thief _wasn't_ a normal one. Where it used to be the entrance there was a huge hole, through which the snow was starting to fill the hall. The floor all over the museum was full of cracks and breaks, like something enough big had ran fast through the building. Most of the walls lacked of the paintings they were holding, just like someplatforms lacked of the respective statues.

The trail of the thief were visible, and the Powerpuff Girls had already tried to follow them, only to find out that the thief, whoever, or _whatever,_ it was, had exited from the main entrance which he already used to enter. He was obviously enough fast to do his business and escape before the police could arrive at the place: even though the snow storm didn't help the police cars, the girls knew that a common thief couldn't do all of this alone.

The girls had also tried to find some kind of footprints outside. But the blizzard was still too much heavy, and by the time they tried, there was already no sign of the thief on the snow.

By now, they were trying to talk with the receptionist, who was believed to be the only witness of the theft.

"Miss Schmitz, can you hear me?" asked Blossom, who was starting to get worried about the woman.

Suddenly, the woman grabbed Blossom from her shoulders, alerting Buttercup who was stopped from punching the poor woman only by a gesture from her red-haired sister.

The woman shouted in Blossom's face: "IT WAS ENORMOUS! Enormous, I tell you! I... I... " she let Blossom away "I'm scared... I'm scared...".

Blossom was going to try another time to calm down the woman when some male voice came from above them. "It's enough for her today, girls. We're taking care of Miss Schmitz from now."

The girls whirled their heads to face the Chief of police, the particular one that they knew from the unfortunate case of officer Mike Brikowski. He was in company with another man, a white one with big, grey moustaches. Both of them were wearing heavy raincoats.

"This is the police's psychologist. He will look over the receptionist: I think she had enough of it today".

The girls nodded as they saw the psychologist help the woman to stand up, who was crying, and leading her away.

"If she's going to tell something new or useful, he has the order to tell me instantly. Be sure, you'll get informed as soon as I do".

"Thanks, Chief..." answered Blossom, politely "Anyway, what do you think about this thief?"

"The same things you think, Powerpuff Girls. This thief is indeed not a normal one, but he was not only strong but also intelligent. There is not a single evidence of sort left in the crime scene. Not a weapon, not a tool. He seems like he had done his job with bare hands..."

"But who could do such a thing?" said Buttercup "I do not remember of any monster who was interested in robbing an art museum!"

"Maybe it was a robot from Mojo Jojo?" proposed Bubbles.

"That could indeed explain the cracks on the floor and the great entrance the thief surely had done, Bubbles" the Chief commented.

"Then, we have to pay Mojo a little visit!" declared Buttercup fiercely.

Blossom was going to agree with her sister when someone's call came to their hears. "Chief! Chief!"

The Chief of police turned his head, annoyed, and he shouted "PEREZ! What now! Don't you see I'm busy here?"

"Chief! I think we found something important!" answered Perez as he reached them. He stopped and regained his breath for some seconds. The policeman was wearing an heavy uniform, too.

"What?" asked the Chief, inquisitively. The Powerpuff Girls listened interested at their conversation.

"Some of our men are still working there, but here it is..." he withdrew a small transparent plastic bag from his pocket "...a little sample"

The Chief took the transparent bag from Perez's hands and raised it up to examine it. The Girls hovered up to watch it, too.

Inside the little scientific bag, there was a bunch of white hairs.

"Well, unless Mojo Jojo has been putting white fur on his robots, it's unlikely that he's the one responsible of this theft" said the Chief of police, giving the bag back to Perez.

"But then who could it have been? It could still be Mojo: what if he's trying to trick us?" said Buttercup.

"Buttercup, the only other villain which owns fur apart from Mojo is Fuzzy, and he's pink. If he'd wanted to put the blame on someone else, he'd have chosen something more specific than that" explained Blossom.

"Whatever, Bloss. Do we have any other choices? It wasn't Fuzzy of course, how could he be interested in those paintings?" replied Buttercup.

They were interrupted by Bubbles: she had idea while her two sisters were talking.

"Blossom, do you remember Fuzzy visiting us an hour ago?"

"Yes, I do. What're you thinking of, Bubbles?" asked Blossom.

"Didn't he say he needed our help because someone took over his property? Perhaps... perhaps it's linked with the robbery".

Blossom and Buttercup exchanged glances, then Blossom said "it could be, Bubbles. It could be... even if I can't imagine of someone interested in both Fuzzy's house and works of arts".

The Chief of police was astonished. "Someone has taken over that beast's lair? After this, I saw them all in my career... But indeed, we have two strange events happening very near to each other. It's a possibility."

"Ok, girls" began Blossom "We're returning home and see if Fuzzy is still near there. If he's gone away or we discover there's no link at all, we're going straight for..."

Bubbles sneezed noisily, stopping Blossom's speech. "Oh, sorry Blossom..."

"No problem... Just remember that we have to get our coats and all when we get home. I was saying, we're going for Mojo if not, ok?"

"As you wish, 'leader'..." agreed Buttercup, even though it was visible she wasn't of the same idea.

"We're leaving right now! Thanks for the help, Chief!" said Blossom as she and her sisters hovered up.

"You're welcome, Powerpuff Girls. And be careful!" shouted back the Chief as they flied away and exited art museum into the snow storm.

_I hope they'll really be careful_, he thought; _whatever caused all this mess possesses superhuman strength..._

* * *

The girls found it difficult to fly in such bad weather: the wind, the snow, and the low visibility made them have to fly near ground level, slower than usual. If it hadn't been for their good knowledge of the city, with all the days spent flying over it, they'd have surely got lost.

"Stupid snow..." mumbled Buttercup "Why this storm's taking so long to go away?"

"It's cold... really cold..." moaned Bubbles. Blossom turned for a second her head while moving. Both of her sister had their arms covering their bodies, just like she did. They had totally forgot their winter suits at home, and she remembered all the times Buttercup had asked the Professor to go out without them during winter. The Professor always denied her the permission, and by now she knew why he had never gave her that. When they went to the art museum two hours ago, the temperature hadn't affected them much, but at the moment they were starting to feel really cold.

"We are almost there, Bubbles" she reassured "Just resist one more minute...".

They indeed reached their house after some seconds. They found the door still broken, the Professor visible from outside, working on it.

The girls approached the main door, but the Professor didn't see them until they were almost inside the house.

"Girls!" he said, visibly worried "Are you ok? I tried to tell you about the coldness outside, but you flied away too fast!"

The girls were not only feeling cold, but their clothes were soaking wet due to the snow, therefore making them feel even more cold.

"It's our fault, Professor, we should have known..." apologized Blossom.

"Never mind, Blossom... for now, all three of you must change your clothes before you get a serious cold!"

All the three of them nodded, but before going upstairs, Blossom asked "Professor... Is Fuzzy Lumpkins still in the surroundings? We have to talk with him about the robbery at the art museum..."

The Professor's face turned from a worried to a slightly annoyed one. He didn't answer: he just pointed with his finger at his back. The girls hovered over him and saw that someone was sitting on the armchair of the living room and watching TV. Whoever he was, he was noisily eating something.

The girls flied past the armchair and were surprised to find Fuzzy there, chewing some chips.

"Whadda're you doin' ?" he protested "Get offa my view!"

The girls watched him oddly. The most surprised one was Buttercup, who then called the Professor "Professor! How could you let this dork inside?"

"Well, Buttercup" answered the Professor, who had resumed his job with the door, "I thought it wasn't a good idea to close him outside without even a door to separate me and him..."

Buttercup took some seconds to imagine the scene. She hovered over Fuzzy's head "You _threatened_ him?" she hissed.

"You girls have really somethin' not workin' in your heads! Prof. offered me to host me, and I accepted!"

"Well, it didn't exactly went in that way..." pointed out the Professor.

"Ok, ok, quiet now!" ordered Blossom "We're still lucky to have found you, Fuzzy. We need to talk..."

"Can you return later? There're people on that box behind you who..."

Buttercup abruptly turned off the TV set and she grinned: "Who are you talking about?"

Fuzzy seemed to get angry, but before he could complain, Bubbles hovered over him and said, threateningly "You meanie should act well inside our house... Or there'll be TROUBLE FOR YOU!"

She nearly shouted the last part, then she returned with her sisters. All the people inside the house except for Bubbles herself were bewildered. "Hey, is there something bad I did? I've just advised him about the correct behaviour in our house..." she said, innocently.

"Oookey..." said Blossom, watching her sister perplexed. She turned to a now very calm Fuzzy Lumpkins "Fuzzy, just answer our questions..."

"But I should be the one's givin' ..." he began, but Blossom hushed him with a gesture. "No. You answer ours, or you can forgot about our help."

Fuzzy would have torn the little girl's head off, but he thought about his cousin lighting his property up on fire, and he stopped his hands.

"Who was the one who took over your hut, Fuzzy?" began Blossom.

"My cousin... Argh, I hate callin' him like that..." said Fuzzy.

"Does this cousin of yours own a white fur over his body?"

"Yes... How can you know?"

The girls watched themselves, then Blossom informed him about the robbery at the museum.

"Well, it wouldn't surprise me. As the others like him, this cousin has some strange hobbies... But I don't care about them! I want my property back!"

"But, if he's that different from you, how can he be your cousin, Fuzzy?" asked Bubbles.

Fuzzy suddenly stood up, and the girls backend up, ready for everything. Fuzzy didn't try to attack them, however. He said in a low but determined voice "Do not ask me about that anymore. _All right?"_

"All right, Fuzzy, all right, now relax..." said Blossom quickly. Fuzzy sat down on the armchair again.

"Did your cousin tell you the reason of his presence here in Townsville?" she continued. Fuzzy had to wait for some seconds before answering because of Bubbles, who couldn't help sneezing during the conversation.

"No! He insulted me, sayin' something about me not able to catch on his... I dunno... How he dares!"

"Well, he isn't completely wrong..." commented Buttercup.

"Buttercup, would you please shut up?" scolded Blossom. Buttercup stuck her tongue out at her sister, but the pink-eyed girl ignored her.

"Ok, Fuzzy, that's enough for now. Girls, huddle!" Fuzzy watched them as they reunited and began whispering to each other. After some seconds, they let each other away and they faced the lumpkin.

"Fuzzy, we believe that we can have a deal. If you bring us to your house, we can discover if the one who's staying in your house right now is the thief we're looking for. If he is, we'll capture him and send him to the police, and you will have your _property back. _Is that ok for you?"

Fuzzy Lumpkins stared at the girls for some seconds. Then, he suddenly jumped out of the armchair and began dancing in the living room. After some seconds, he even grabbed a poor Professor Utonium and used him as a dance partner.

"Fuzzy! Stop!" shouted Blossom. "STOP!" she repeated.

Fuzzy stopped and let the Professor away, who walked stumbling for some seconds before eventually falling on the floor. "I cannot even celebrate a bit?" he asked, annoyed.

"Not in this way!" answered Bubbles angrily. Fuzzy folded his arms in protest, but he kept silent.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the girls were ready to leave after a hot bath and a change of clothes. They were now wearing their winter suits: all three of them wearing heavy winter coats, gloves, shoes and caps, except for Blossom who wore a pair of earmuffs. Fuzzy was waiting for them in the living room, eager to get his property back.

"How much time do you girls need?" he complained as he saw them hover downstairs.

They ignored him and met the Professor, who was finishing the last part of his job with the door.

"Professor, we're going to Fuzzy's place now..." informed Blossom.

"Ok, girls. I should tell you something that came to my head. This cousin of Fuzzy... How could he get his hands on Fuzzy's house? You know how much big can be Fuzzy's strength. And for what kind of reason would a relative of him steal art works at the museum, even with that weather?"

"What are you trying to say, Professor?" asked Blossom.

"Just... be careful. There's something wrong in this story. Do not underestimate this thief. All right?" he replied.

"Don't worry, Professor, we... _hachooo..._ we deal with all types of monsters all the time!" said Bubbles, smiling.

"Yeah! It's another one of the family of that dork there, anyway... We won't have any problem!" said Buttercup confidently.

"Ok, but do not lower your carefulness! And try to not get home before the night falls!" repeated the Professor. He was also worried for the cold Bubbles had visibly got.

"All right, we'll do it, just don't worry!" said Blossom, showing a reassuring smile.

"FUZZY! WE'RE LEAVING!" shouted Buttercup as the three of them hovered outside.

"I'm comin'!" shouted back Fuzzy as he came past the Professor and exited the house. The four shadows quickly disappeared in the fog of the snow storm, out of Professor's Utonium view. He sighed as he resumed his work and thought, _I have a bad feeling about this... I hope I am wrong..._


	3. Legend of the Yeti

Chapter 3:

_Legend of the Yeti_

_Stupid wind, stupid storm, stupid snow! What's wrong with this weather? It's been, I don't know... Five hours? Six? It should have..._

Buttercup's thoughts were stopped by the nth _hachooo _of her blue sister. The green eyed girl turned for a moment to control her, finding Blossom handing her a handkerchief. She wouldn't have said that aloud, but Buttercup had a bit of concern about her sister, and given the worried stare of Blossom, she wasn't the only one. To make things worse, Bubbles' cold could be a real problem if they had to sneak into Fuzzy's hut.

Talking about the beast, he wasn't paying attention to the three superheroes behind him. He was fully focused on his instinct to return to his house, walking carefully through the snow-covered bushes.

It was in fact the reason why Blossom had wanted him to join them. The same hurdles that troubled the girls when they'd gone to the Art Museum had prevented them from reaching Fuzzy's property right away, flying over the forest.

At the moment, they were walking under the trees, which provided some cover from the raging storm over them. It was beginning to get dark: while it was still early in the afternoon, the branches and the blizzard itself weren't letting much light inside the forest.

Without advising the girls, Fuzzy abruptly stopped to move. He smelled the air, which made the girls watch him doubtfully. The lumpkin seemed to ignore them as he said "We're enterin' my territory. My territory..."

He resumed to walk, slower than before. The girls followed him hovering, to make as less noise as possible. They proceeded this way for some minutes, until in front of them they began to see some light. It was the barren zone that marked Fuzzy's wodden house.

"There it is..." said Blossom. "Bubbles, Buttercup, try to be as much quiet as you can. We're going to catch the thief by surprise, if there's one..."

Fuzzy spent some seconds to realize that the redhead had not called his name. "HEY!" he protested "Whaddabout me? You aren't leaving me there, are ya?"

"Exactly! We can manage it by ourselves, Fuzzy..." explained Bubbles.

"...and, excuse me, but what about your stealth abilities? I think you'll end alerting our target, Fuzzy. It's better for all of us if you stay there" finished Blossom.

"But... But..." Fuzzy couldn't protest anymore as Buttercup blurted out: "Do not say another word! For what we can know, this could be some kind of trap! So just shut up and thank goodness for having us do your dirty work!"

With that, the girls whirled their heads and focused on their task, leaving the poor Fuzzy alone on the edge of the clearing. Even so, the hillbilly continued to talk: "But... But.. I think that's _not_ a good idea..."

His words were lost in the wind.

* * *

As the girls exited the underbrush, they were hit full force by the power of the snowstorm. Buttercup couldn't help to let out a small curse, which her sisters didn't hear despite the superhearing thanks to all the noise around them, as they hovered down and landed on a fifteen-centimetres-thick layer of snow.

They were making their way through the snow when Bubbles couldn't hold it longer and she let out a small _hachooo._

Blossom and Buttercup immediately took a defensive position, but nothing did jump out of the partial darkness and attack them. When they were confident there was no enemy around, Bubbles was already at their side.

"I'm sorry, I tried to hold it..." she apologized quietly. Blossom hushed with a gesture Buttercup before she could comment angrily at her sister, then she turned to the blonde. "All right, just make sure to not sneeze anymore until when find the thief" she whispered back.

Bubbles nodded, and they continued to walk towards the hut. Twenty seconds later, they reached the wooden platform that separated the front of the house from the grass, at least when they weren't covered both by a large amount of snow.

Blossom took the lead and carefully hovered up, trying to keep a steady position, and she slowly tried to open the front door. It was open.

As Blossom opened it, the three of them leaned their heads in to scan the inside. Apparently, there was no one waiting for them. They quietly entered the living room, leaving the door open behind them.

The chamber looked as usual as it had always been. Armchair, fireplace, rug, all the objects were in their proper place. The windows were all closed, which wasn't strange, thinking of the weather outside. In fact, it should have been almost pitch black inside, if it wasn't for the small hole in the wall, just over the front door. And that _was _strange.

But not enough strange of Buttercup, which let out a sigh of frustration, definitively abandoning the stealth part of the plan. "There isn't anyone in this shack! Fuzzy lied to us!" she complained.

"Buttercup, quiet!" whispered Blossom "That hole up there is suspicious. Look. Fuzzy is too attached to his own property to damage it! You know it!"

Buttercup glared at her pink eyed sister. "I don't care about what that dork does with his 'property'! C'mon, we have a thief to catch!"

"Thief?" said an unknown voice.

Suddenly, the door to the outside was abruptly slammed shut. Probably because of a gust of wind... or probably not.

Immediately, sensing a danger near, the girls took a triangle-like formation in the center of the living room.

After some seconds, the voice resumed to speak.

"Really? How can the famous Powerpuff Girls call _me _as a thief? You have to not know about me, because if that wasn't the case, I would take that as an insult... and that wouldn't be _pretty_..."

Unfortunately for the girls, the voice echoed through the hut, and for their ears it was like it came from every direction. Suddenly, a taste of creepiness fell on every part of the room. There was something in that voice that the girls didn't like at all. Something scary.

Obviously, Buttercup was more annoyed than scared. "Where are you? Face me if you have the courage!" she shouted.

"And what about all the fun part? That would be ruined, wouldn't it?" answered the voice.

Another strong gust of wind slammed some of the windows open, and for a moment the entire house creaked loudly.

Bubbles was beginning to feel uneasy with the situation, but she had to block her mouth with her hands as she saw _something _move behind one of the newly opened windows. Nothing more than a shadow, but still...

"Blossom..." she whispered "there is something out there..."

Blossom could feel something's wrong in Bubbles' voice, so she reassured her. "Calm down, Bubbles. We've already dealt with monsters bigger than this guy. Did we?"

"Yes..." she answered "...but those did not _hide_ themselves..."

Buttercup was beginning to get bored: "I'm sick of your game! Face me, wherever you are!"

Before Blossom could scold her sister, the voice forestalled her: "As you wish".

In that moment, the leader girl realized that the hole over the main door wasn't the _only_ unusual thing in the hut. Shouldn't there have been some type of metal structure inside? Blossom remembered from their last 'visit' to Fuzzy that there were these new metal parts inside that provided more stability to the house. Probably Fuzzy had added that internal frame to do less job with the maintenance of the wooden structure itself. Now, there were some metal beams on the ceiling over them, but there were none on the sidewalls. Which meant that...

Blossom thoughts were cut off by a soft 'toc' on the door. Then, the entire house collapsed over them, wood, metal, snow over the roof and all.

After some seconds, three heads appeared among the debris. A moment later, they were standing and ready to fight. The snowstorm wasn't stopping to trouble them, though: the fog hid whoever, or _whatever, _had just caused the destruction of the hut.

The voice spoke again, more menacing than before, and still echoing in the wind. "Very, very well. It appears that it is not going to be that easy with you. Good... Let the _hunt _begin".

"_Hunt? _What are you talking about?" asked Blossom, puzzled. But the voice did not answer her. And that made her became a little more nervous.

Buttercup was the only one which wasn't affected by the atmosphere. To be more precise, she found all the 'not-revealing-me' and 'trying-to-scare-you' stuff more annoying rather than frightening.

"Wait until I find you, and I'll show you the hunt!" she threatened towards the fog around them.

Buttercup was only able to see something white move behind the fog for less than a second. She couldn't expect that, afterwards, a huge snowball, four times bigger than her, would appear out of nowhere. The impact was immediate, and Buttercup literally disappeared into the mass of snow.

"Buttercup!" called both Blossom and Bubbles at the same time. At once, they heard quick steps around them, like something _big _moving quickly. But they couldn't see him.

"Bubbles!" ordered Blossom, thinking quickly "Use your heat vision and aim at the noise!". Together, the two remaining Powerpuff Girls began firing their eyebeams, trying to hit whoever was running in the fog. But after only two seconds, the steps stopped.

Blossom felt a single tear of sweat streaming down her forehead, despite the low temperature. _Where did those steps stop?, _she thought, _there's too much noise with this snowstorm!_

"Bubbles!" she shouted, turning to her sister "Stay calm, we're going to help Buttercup out now and... Bubbles?"

Blossom blinked as she watched her sister face. Was that a... terrified gaze?

The blue puff spent two seconds to recover the use of her mouth. When that happened, she shouted at the top of her lungs: "Blossom! WATCH OUT!"

But it was too late. The shadow form that was towering over the redhead did not wait more: a big hand caught Blossom like a man would grab a little mouse. The hand was so big that Blossom's face was completely covered. The redhead tried to free herself, as the twirling legs were telling, but the hand did not let her away.

Bubbles was open-mouthed, petrified with fear at the sight in front of her. However, when the realization that her sister was in danger hit her, something snapped in her head, and all the fear disappeared.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" she shouted furiously. Closing her eyes, she darted towards the creature fist-first. But when she reopened them, there was no creature nor Blossom. Both had disappeared.

Bubbles scanned her surroundings, trying to find any sign of the creature or her sister. "Blossom! Blossom, where are you?" she called, struggling to hover over the remains of the hut. When she received no answer, she got angrier: "You... You... What did you do to my sister? Where is she? Where are YOU?!"

In that exact moment, Buttercup freed herself from the mass of snow. She tried to ignore the ache in her head and right away looked for her sisters. All she could see was fog, snow flakes, and debris, but she could hear through the noise of the storm Bubbles' calls.

"Bubbles! I'm coming, hang on!" she shouted as she flied towards what she believed was her position.

The blue puff heard her other sister shout, but she had not the chance to answer. A fist hit her back at high speed, throwing her towards the ground face-first. She couldn't even scream as her mouth was fulled with snow and wood. She immediately emptied her mouth and dashed away, barely in time to avoid a enormous foot that crushed her previous position. Bubbles turned to face the enemy, ignoring the cap she had just lost. She charged at the creature and tried to punch him on the side. Surprising enough, she managed to score a direct hit.

But the creature didn't seem to suffer minimally from the hit. Before the blue puff could prepare another attack, she was caught in his grasp like her sister. This time, Bubbles' head wasn't covered by the hand. She was raised until she found herself face-to-face with the yeti.

"You are fast, little girl..." he said, calmly. It was like he was entertained. "...but not enough fast to escape me".

Bubbles tried to free herself, but the strength of the creature was bigger than hers, like the strength of any one of the monsters that had been attacking Townsville since her birth. Except that the monsters were as tall as the skyscrapers most of the time, while this one was big but not gigantic.

The yeti raised his other hand, probably with the purpose to cover her head like he did with Blossom. Bubbles would have screamed if it wasn't for the fact that the monster groaned in pain before she could shriek. She felt his grasp loosen itself, and she right away took the opportunity and escaped, away from the monster's range. Even though the monster was too busy with receiving a flood of punches on the face from Buttercup.

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" she shouted as she let a final kick fall on the creature's nose, who moved back with a grimace. Buttercup followed him with the purpose to stick to his face, which she believed was one of his weak points, but in this case it was the _face _which went to her. In an unexpected move, the creature head-butted the green puff, stunning her.

While Buttercup, having lost her equilibrium, fell on the ground, Bubbles felt the hazard her sister was in, and she fired her eyebeams at the yeti from his back in an attempt to stop him. The creature dodged her attack, but he did not try to smash Buttercup in her defenceless state. He disappeared in the fog another time.

Bubbles made her way through the blizzard until she caught sight of Buttercup, which was sputtering something.

"Buttercup! Are you all right?" she asked with a worried look.

"Yeah, yeah..." the green-eyed girl answered as she spitted another time "Yeck, stupid snow...". She touched her head, trying to soothe the headache that had returned, bigger and badder.

The yeti spoke, once again using his deep tone to not reveal his position: "The hunt is quite more interesting that I expected". Buttercup and Bubbles stood back-to-back, glancing here and there in order to watch for any type of attack the beast could send them.

"You appear to be lucky, Powerpuff Girls. You're going to experience the true range of my powers..."

"I don't care!" replied Bubbles, angrily "Where's Blossom? What have you..."

"Blossom?" Buttercup realized that the red haired girl wasn't with them "Bubbles, what happened?"

Buttercup's question was left unanswered as the ground below them began to tremble. The two of them spotted something coming towards them _fast_ in the fog. Only some meters away they realized what it was.

A trail of ice shards as sharp as knives was sprouting from the ground, crushing and cutting everything it hit.

Bubbles and Buttercup flied away in opposite directions, avoiding the incoming attack by a hair.

Bubbles could hear Buttercup shouting in the blizzard "What the heck of a beast could do THAT?"

"I don't know Buttercup, but we have to stop him and find Blossom!" shouted back Bubbles. She waited for some seconds, but her sister did not speak more.

"Buttercup? Buttercup?" she called, already feeling the fear rising inside her. She flied towards the direction she had last heard Buttercup's voice coming from, fighting the heavy wind and the flakes of snow that hit her eyes and wet her hair. But she didn't find anyone.

"Buttercup! Where are you? Answer me!" she shouted again, a hint of fright in her voice. Again, no one spoke, and the blue puff began processing the fact that she was left _alone _against the creature. The anger inside her slowly faded away.

After a long, suffering minute, finally someone talked to her. Although it was the yeti.

"Poor, little girl. You really look scared, _very_ scared. A world famous superhero like you... _scared?_ Your sister was right, you fought enemies bigger and more dangerous than me... At least, that's what I thought until now: I have already captured two of you, and now the last one is _scared..._"

The yeti's voice echoed around Bubbles, making every bone of her shudder. His voice was deep, but most of all, it wasn't evil... it was calm, like of someone only doing his job. And that made it even creepier.

"What... What did you do to my sisters? Where... Where is Blossom? Where's Buttercup?" she managed to say as she turned repeatedly her head. She wanted to help them, but with that weather the yeti was nearly _invisible._

"Oh, you don't have to worry for them, little girl..." said the yeti. In that moment, another _hachooo_ came out of Bubbles' mouth, despite her attempts to hold it. The yeti waited for some seconds before continuing: "You're going to meet them _soon"._

And that last sentence was said right behind Bubbles'. The blue puff whirled to face the threat, but instead of reacting, she was paralyzed in mid air.

The yeti was now correctly visible to her in all his might. He owned a weapon: a metal beam stole by what used to be the wooden house.

"Not reacting _is _a mistake, little girl" he said firmly. Then, he swung the beam, hitting her head with a metallic noise.

Bubbles felt the world becoming dark around herself, and eventually she passed out and fell on the ground.

The yeti stared at her for some seconds, then he threw the beam away and grabbed the Powerpuff Girl with one of his huge hands. He then watched the sky over him. "Just in time..." he commented "...this was a complete success."

He turned and walked away from the scene, disappearing in the fog with the little girl he was carrying...


	4. Clash of the Titans

Chapter 4:

_Clash of the Titans_

Fuzzy Lumpkins, having had it of waiting, left the forest for the clearing. The snowstorm was finally beginning to weaken; therefore, the fog was dissolving and Fuzzy became able to see his house. At least, what remained of it.

The pink furred beast let himself fell on his knees and scratched his eyes, not really believing what he had just seen. But the sight did not change. Where before there was a wooden hut, now was laying a thick layer of debris.

"It cannot be..." he began "MY PROPERTY!". If Fuzzy found annoying that ones entered his territory, seeing the property itself destroyed was probably too much even for him. He did not remember of the Powerpuff Girls, neither of his cousin. All he could think of was that his house was gone.

"COUSIN!" a voice called. Fuzzy recovered from his trance and stared at the creature which was standing _exactly _on the remains of the house. At his side there were two objects: a huge, leather backpack, and a small, metal cage... which was containing three unconscious, little girls.

But Fuzzy did not even notice them: all his focus was on the one _responsible _for the disaster he had just witnessed.

"YOU! You... You'd just DESTROYED MY PROPERTY?!"

"Completely obliterated, I would say. But, come on Fuzzy, you can always build another one, and I needed to do that! Thinking of it, I have to thank you!"

All the anger inside the lumpkin was momentarily put aside at the strange remark by the yeti. Fuzzy scratched his head, trying to process _why_ would his cousinthank him.

"Watch out, Fuzzy! I don't want to see your brain grilled!" the yeti teased, smirking at him.

The anger returned to his previous position, bigger than before, and Fuzzy answered angrily at the insult: "I haven't helped you! You'll pay for what you did to my property!"

"But still, how can't you understand, cousin?" the yeti continued, seeming to not notice the fury of the pink furred villain. He pointed with one of his fingers at the cage at his side, saying "You did what I expected you to do. I studied you, Fuzzy. You and all this city, for only one purpose. _Them."_

In that moment, a pair of pink eyes slowly opened. Blossom, having just woken up from whatever the yeti did to her, was seeing nothing but blur and white, but she was still able to catch the words of the dialogue taking place between the two beasts.

The yeti couldn't help but laugh as he saw Fuzzy blink and scratch his head another time in confusion. "Oh, Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy. It is true, then, that lumpkins always need an explanation for everything. After all these years, the family is still the same, isn't it?"

Fuzzy suddenly sent a angry stare at the yeti, like he had just been offended. He shouted: "You are _not_ a member of our family! _All _of you! No matter what you think!"

"All right, cousin, all right. That's not important by now..." the yeti moved towards him and let one of his hands fall on one of the lumpkin's shoulders. They began walking alongside and, surprisingly, Fuzzy did not rebel.

"You see, cousin, I was bored to live every day as a ghost, with scaring men as my only free time hobby. So I decided to start my own business, and actually became a _bounty hunter."_

_Hunter what? What the heck is that?, _thought Fuzzy. The yeti seemed to read his mind as he continued "It's simple. With all the powers I've discovered to own in these years, I thought: why not to use them in an actual job? So here I am, hunting superheroes and selling them to the best bidder. You can't know how many customers called for my services and how much I've already earned with only one year of work. But today is a great day. The bounty for the capture of the Powerpuff Girls is the biggest one I had ever achieved. There are plenty of customers who would pay every price I ask them to have these girls and... do what they want with them. But that's none of my business. Fuzzy, you should thank me because I just caught your worst enemies... No more Powerpuffs bothering you. Do you understand?"

As the yeti said, he extended his other arm in front of them, as to show to Fuzzy what was he talking of. And it worked: when the yeti released him, Fuzzy looked at him in awe and said "You mean... no more brats enterin' my property?"

"Right. And, in addition, you'll be able to do whatever you want in the city from now!" the yeti answered.

Fuzzy pondered about his cousin's words. That was... mind blowing! For Fuzzy, it was like a impossible utopia had just become real. He was so used to have to live with the girls' presence that the complete freedom the yeti had just given him was giving him an headache.

"Don't worry about your house, Fuzzy, when you'll have built a new one, you'll discover that this was a sacrifice you'll not regret" with that, the yeti whirled and began walking towards his objects "Time to go now. See you soon, cousin!"

The yeti was confident he had succeeded in convincing Fuzzy of the advantages of the loss of his house. Thus, he was a bit surprised to hear behind him the barely audible noise of something big being picked up from the debris.

The creature immediately turned and blocked a flying, and _spiky_, plank of wood before it could hit him with a head shot.

Fuzzy Lumpkins was where he had left him. He was now as tall and big as him, his teeth had turned to menacing fangs, and his colour had turned from pink to bloody red.

He was mad. Like, really _mad, _at his cousin.

But the yeti didn't seem to be influenced by the sight. He instead looked like he was amused. "Very, very well. It looks like our little lumpkin here did not understand a single word of my speech".

Fuzzy growled at him in response. Between the snorts, the yeti could catch the words 'house' and 'destroyer'.

"You definitely did not understand. All right then, let's do it!" the yeti concluded. He tightened his huge fists and prepared himself for the incoming onslaught.

Fuzzy didn't let him have one more second of rest. With a war cry he launched himself at the abominable snowman, his hands transformed into dangerous blades.

And that cry awoke the two remaining Powerpuff Girls. Bubbles and Buttercup, both of them soothing their heads, were at the same time relieved to see Blossom alive and surprised to find themselves imprisoned in the small cage. But they didn't have the will to speak as they saw what Blossom was staring at, open-mouthed: the raging battle going on between the two beasty relatives.

At first, Fuzzy tried to slash the yeti with his claws, using his momentum to gain power on the hit. However, the yeti was not only strong but also fast, so it was easy for him to dodge the attack. The creature aimed at his side with one of his fists, but even Fuzzy was faster now: he blocked the incoming punch with his hands.

They stayed in this position for some seconds, one trying to overcome the force of the other. And Fuzzy's cousin thought it was the perfect time to taunt the raged beast once more.

"Seriously, Fuzzy! We both know you can't win. You chose to fight a worthless battle instead of starting an all new life. That's nonsense! I know that lumpkins are really attached to their property, but your _house..."_

At the mention of his former home, Fuzzy felt even more rage fill his muscles. He let out another loud cry and pushed with all his might. The yeti was taken aback by this sudden showcase of strength, and he had to move back. But the lumpkin wasn't letting him away, as he leapt over him with his claws drawn. The yeti reacted quickly: he picked up the first thing that was below him, and swung it at the head of the lumpkin.

The plank of wood this time succeeded in hitting its target. Fuzzy fell in front of the creature, feeling dizzy all over his body, and the yeti right away kicked him effortlessly. The lumpkin was thrown away, but he didn't lose control of his body. He landed correctly on the snow, and faced the yeti another time.

"Interesting!" he said curiosly "Looks like my cousin is not that weak doll I always believed he was! At least, this is going to be a little challenging!".

Fuzzy ignored his words and charged at him, this time in an attempt to punch him. But the yeti did not waste time as he avoided the incoming beast and kicked him another time, sending him away.

Again, the lumpkin managed to land on his foot, but this time, he did not attack blindly. He waited, studying the smirking creature in front of him.

"Surprising! You appear to have some gear still rolling in that head of yours!" the yeti said, still smiling annoyingly "Good... _my turn, now_".

The yeti scanned his surroundings until he found the weapon he was looking for. He walked casually until he reached a metal beam, similar to the one he used to stun Bubbles. He grabbed it and wielded it like it was a club, letting it fall on his shoulder.

The yeti smiled once again and began walking towards Fuzzy, one hand on the beam. Fuzzy did not move but continued to look at him with bloodshot eyes.

The yeti continued to walk until he was ten meters away from the lumpkin. In that moment, he suddenly charged at the lumpkin, swinging the beam.

But Fuzzy was incredibly fast and leapt to the side, avoiding the swings. He unleashed his claws and, knelling, tried to slash the yeti's legs. But the yeti had somehow foreseen his move and jumped on the hair with a somersault, something surprisingly agile for a being as big as him. Fuzzy didn't see that his cousin landed right behind him: a metal sound was heard as he was hit dead-centre on the back, but the lumpkin ignored it and whirled his body.

The yeti swung the metal beam at him another time, but Fuzzy used his hands to block the incoming hit. The raged beast did something unexpected: he pushed the beam towards the yeti's head instead of trying to stop the force of the swing. The move didn't save Fuzzy from receiving another strong hit on the side, but the yeti wasn't pleased to feel the point of the metal beam hitting his forehead. The creature retreated, the world momentarily tilting around him, while Fuzzy couldn't take the advantage as the ache on the side was too much to be ignored this time.

"Not bad..." the yeti complimented as his sight eventually stopped to move "Really, not bad... I'm sorry I have to stop this battle, but I've already lost too much time."

When Fuzzy looked at him, the yeti was already attacking him with the beam. Fuzzy blocked the weapon like he did before, but it was the yeti's turn to do something unexpected. Fuzzy felt that the force of the hit suddenly disappeared, and before he could realize what happened, his cousin punched him on the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Then, the yeti followed with an uppercut, another punch and ended with a knee on his kidney.

Fuzzy was mad, but not enough mad to withstand the force of those hits. The yeti once again grabbed the metal beam, but Fuzzy was too busy to regain control of his arms and legs to notice: his body was betraying him. It was easy for the creature to let a single, powerful swing fall on the lumpkin's head. The hit was so hard that Fuzzy fell on the side some meters away, half-conscious.

The yeti threw the beam away and walked towards the trembling form. He wasn't letting him recover: the creature grabbed Fuzzy and raised it until he was over his head. Already the lumpkin was beginning to return to his normal size, but the yeti did not wait. He threw him away towards the forest with a struggled shout. As the flying object entered the woods, he heard the sound of trunks and brances breaking under a heavy weight.

The yeti clapped at himself: _That should buy me enough time to get outta here. I have a schedule to follow!_

Concluding that the problem 'Fuzzy Lumpkins' was resolved, the yeti returned to the objects he had left behind. By now, the snowstorm was almost gone: wind and fog had disappeared, and it was snowing softly. The white furred hunter walked calmly until he realized there was something wrong. He raised an eyebrow as he saw what it was. The Girls were awoke, and they were trying to break the bears and escape.

"Hey, you three!" he called without advising, and thus making the girls jump in surprise. "What you're doing is useless. I requested a special alloy of steel for that cage. You aren't going to break free out of it without all of your powers, which at the moment you _don't _own."

The three girls watched him with various stares. Buttercup was mad, and Bubbles was scared. Blossom, instead, was confused. She had listened to the yeti's initial discussion with Fuzzy, but she was still struggling to believe what she'd heard.

She was going to speak, but the yeti hushed her with a gesture before she could open her mouth. "First rule: you're not going to say a single word until I ask you to do so. I have nothing against you, so if you act nicely you aren't going to be hurt and I'll be able to bring you away faster. Seems logic, isn't it?"

"The heck is it!" answered Buttercup as her eyes began emanating red light. Blossom wasn't enough fast to stop her: as she said "Buttercup, not!", the green eyed puff fired a pair of eyebeams at the creature in front of them.

The fact was that the eyebeam was as thin as an hair. The yeti casually raised one of his hands and the red laser hit it: it did nothing more than a barely visible burn on his skin.

"As I've already said..." the yeti continued with a scolding, and _creepy,_ tone "...your powers have been weakened. I injected you with a special substance that is going to affect your bodies, and consequently your superpowers, for some time. It's not Antidote X, as one of my customers suggested me to use, but it does its job, and it's not that expensive. Enough for me to bring you away and begin to call them".

"Customers? What..." Bubbles began, but the yeti stopped before she could continue: "Shut that mouth!"

After some seconds of silence, he resumed his speech "Good. Now, that little act of yours..." she watched Buttercup as he continued talking "...is going to be _punished. _And I know quite a good amount of methods to do so."

With that, the yeti was at the side of the cage. With light speed, he opened the cage, grabbed a girl and closed it. It was really fast, too much for Buttercup to react. But the worst hadn't already come to her. She realized that she _wasn't _the one that the beast had grabbed. Seeing that Blossom was still with her, that left only one other option.

The two of them watched in horror as they saw Bubbles trying to free herself from the beast's grasp. It was useless, even more now given the fact she was weak, but she still tried. And that caused the creature to get even more annoyed.

"WHAT?!" shouted Buttercup, completely ignoring the rule the creature had put on them "What the heck are you doing? It was me that attacked you, not her!"

The yeti turned to her and, for the fraction of a second, she could see a smile on his face. And that sent a chill run through her spine.

"If you are so willing to understand what I'm doing, then here's it. You did the error, your sister pays. Simple as that!"

"But that's not fair!" complained Buttercup. The yeti looked like he would have smirked, but he maintained his composure "You should've thought of that before". He threw Bubbles at the ground, and in the exact moment the blue puff hit the debris, she couldn't help to scream. But even her scream was weak.

"You... You..." Buttercup babbled, then she decided it was time to make extreme decisions: "Do not hurt her! Please! Take _me_ instead!"

The yeti turned and watched her inquisitively. Then he said "Honourable. But I repeat: _You should've thought of that before."_

Bubbles was soothing her back, wincing at the hit she just suffered, and that gave the yeti the chance to do his job easily. Completely ignoring the shouting girls behind him, the creature stopped his breath and got his lungs full with hair. Then, he let all the air out. What happened made Blossom and Buttercup gasp in shock. Especially Blossom.

The air which exited the creature mouth was _cold. _Enough cold to instantly solidify the minimal amounts of water vapour that the air encountered. And that freezingbreath of air hit Bubbles.

The blue-eyed puff couldn't even shriek. She was blocked as soon as the breath touched her. And two seconds later, Bubbles was fully enveloped in a solid shard of ice.

Blossom was breathless. The creature had just used ice breath, a version that seemed to be even more powerful than hers. And he used it to transform Bubbles in a statue of ice. Her face was locked in a stare full of dread.

At her side, Buttercup watched for some seconds and all she could say was "...you...you _monster!"_

"I won't tolerate any more shouting without permission!" the creature warned, completely unaffected by the sight "so I'd suggest you to calm down. She's not dead, that won't be good for my business. I have to capture you _alive."_

The two remaining girls watched him. They were completely powerless, and as much as they hated it, Buttercup in particular, the best they could do now was following his orders.

The green eyed girl growled in anger but did not answer, turning her head. Blossom knew they had no other option: she nodded to their jailor.

The creature smiled, content to have his wares calmed down, and neared the ice statue with the purpose to return Bubbles to the cage. But in that moment, he heard a sound. The yeti put himself in battle mode and began scanning his surroundings. The girls watched him without a word, but he paid little care to them. He stopped his gaze on a particular, suspicious bush...

...from which a black raven flied away, cawing noisily. The yeti watched it fly away, a frown on his face. Could he have mistook that bird for an enemy? That was impossible, he had spent years improving his senses, including his hearing. So, if that wasn't an error, then...

The yeti couldn't finish to arrive to the obvious conclusion as the _conclusion _itself arrived to him. He heard a howl right behind him. When he turned, he saw something that he didn't expect at all. Fuzzy Lumpkins, madder than ever, having just jumped, was right over him.

_Good Antartica,_ the yeti thought as the lumpkin reached him.


	5. Believed Stoneheart

Chapter 5:

_ Believed Stoneheart_

The green and pink Powerpuff Girls were bewildered. All they could do was to watch the mess that was rolling on the ground. None of the contenders was willing to give in anytime soon.

That lasted for some seconds, until Blossom shook her head. That was an occasion they couldn't lose! They _had _to try to free themselves, get Bubbles and escape from that relative of Fuzzy!

"Buttercup! Buttercup!" Blossom called, moving her hand in front of her sister's eyes. Buttercup turned to her and the redhead did not waste more minutes: "Quick! Help me with these bars!"

She began to push the metal bars that were closing them inside the cage, like they were doing before. A moment after, Blossom realized that her sister hadn't moved a finger.

"Blossom, how can you believe that we're going to break those darn bars _now _that there're only the two of us?"

"I know!" answered Blossom "But we have to try! Or do you perhaps want to leave Bubbles there?"

Buttercup watched her blue sister, still blocked in the shard of ice. And she almost gasped as she saw Fuzzy Lumpkins landing two meters away from her, thrown by a strong kick of his enemy. Fuzzy completely ignored the girl at his side: he stood up and charged at the yeti again.

"Alright, alright!" quickly said Buttercup as she rushed to the bars and tried to push them with all her might.

While Blossom cleared her forehead from some tears of sweat, she thought: _The hunter said that the substance is going to affect us for now, not forever. If we're lucky, we'll recover enough powers to escape before that battle finishes..._

Fuzzy Lumpkins flied another time in the air, this time turning up on the trunk of a tree near the edge of the clearing. He groaned as he impacted with the wooden cortex. But that wasn't stopping him: he slid on the ground, then he stood up again and glared at his cousin. The creature was glaring right back: his nose was lightly bleeding, which told that Fuzzy had been able to inflict some damage.

"You've passed the limit, Fuzzy! Do not expect me to have mercy of you: I won't be pleased until your face will be turned to _mincemeat_!" the yeti shouted. It was clear that Fuzzy wasn't anymore the only _one_ to be furious.

Fuzzy gave out a loud roar in response and launched himself at full speed, fists tightened. The yeti was ready for him, and when they encountered themselves, it was easy for the creature to dodge the various punches the raged lumpkin threw at him. After some seconds, the abominable snowman attempted a counter-attack with one of his own punches: Fuzzy blocked it and, grabbing his hand with all his strength to keep it motionless, kicked him right in his knee. That made the yeti lose part of his equilibrium, and Fuzzy seized the moment to draw out his claws and try to slash him. Unfortunately, the yeti was too fast, and Fuzzy hit nothing but air as the creature leapt back.

It was time for the yeti to show his special abilities. The white furred beast made a long breath and then let out once again his powerful ice breath. Fuzzy, however, was a bit far from him, so it was piece of cake to move around the yeti and continue to hold off the freezing breath until the creature had fully emptied his lungs.

The yeti coughed and growled, annoyed, at his enemy. Before Fuzzy could make his next move, the yeti suddenly raised his hands and let them fall on the ground with a loud noise. The earth crackled and, afterwards, shards of ice began sprouting from the debris, giving shape to a trail that headed directly for Fuzz.

This time the lumkin almost dodged the attack, which was faster than the previous one: in fact, he couldn't help to suffer a slight cut on the side. And that gave him another reason to get even more angry.

Almost exploding in madness, the hillbilly began circling the yeti, throwing at him everything he could find among the debris. Fuzzy's cousin found himself with the need to avoid a shower of metal beams, wooden planks and various pieces of furniture.

Fuzzy wasn't really paying attention to _what _he was throwing at the creature. And that meant that when he grabbed his personal banjo, which had somehow survived the collapse, he didn't notice it and threw it.

The creature, seeing that the last projectile wasn't dangerous, simply punched it in the air before it could reach him, therefore reducing it to pieces.

Fuzzy blinked. Was that what he had just seen? No, impossible. It couldn't be... really?

"JOOO!" Fuzzy shouted like a little girl as he realized what had happened, which was weird given the fact he was three times bigger than his usual size.

The yeti rolled his eyes and sighed, momentarily ignoring the seriousness of the situation. "Lumpkins..." he muttered "They're all the same..."

The loss of his beloved instrument was the straw that broke the camel's back. Adrenaline filled every inch of his body as Fuzzy, having completely lost the control of his brain, leapt towards the distracted creature at an incredible speed. The roar he emitted was enough to catch Blossom's and Buttercup's attention. What they saw actually took their utter attention.

Fuzzy didn't draw his claws or try to hit with fists. No: his animal instinct had completely taken over. He opened his mouth, showing a stunning showcase of fangs, and closed it shut at the exact moment he impacted on the yeti's shoulder.

Every animal within the compass of three kilometres was abruptly awoken up by a tremendous, terrifying shout.

Fuzzy had his eyes closed. All he was thinking of was to put even more strength on the bite. But it lasted for little time: suddenly, a titanic force moved him away. The yeti slammed the lumpkin on the ground like he'd have done with an insect.

Gritting his teeth, Fuzzy raised his head to look at his enemy. It took him a second to realize that, though he hated that fact, there was something that he shared with his cousin.

The yeti was _mad. _Completely oblivious to the new injury on his body, the creature abruptly grabbed Fuzzy and slammed him another time on the debris. The pieces of wood weren't a pleasant sensation on the lumpkins' back.

"I'll make you... _pay..." _the yeti growled, visibly ready to explode. And in that exact moment Fuzzy Lumpkins felt a little hint of fright get inside him.

* * *

The girls were still trying the break the cage and free themselves, but until now their struggles hadn't brought to anything concrete.

Buttercup would have began to complain if it wasn't for the fact that he suddenly felt new energy inside her muscles and, under the force of her push, one of the bars suddenly twisted itself.

_Yes! They're returning!, _Buttercup thought as he gave a final kick to the same bar. It was too much for the piece of metal, which eventually cracked and fell outside. It took no more than a minute to create a exit enough big to let her and Blossom out.

"We're out! Now let's pick up Bubbles and get outta here!" said Buttercup, watching her sister and expecting a nod from her. But Blossom wasn't paying attention, which was strange for a person like her.

"Hey! Bloss! What are you..." Buttercup followed her gaze until she found out what was distracting her.

The yeti was winning the fight. To be more honest, he had already won, but he wasn't stopping yet. The creature was repeatedly grabbing and slamming his cousin on every object he found. And Fuzzy wasn't liking it one bit, given the shouts he let out.

From that scene, Buttercup concluded that they were out of time. Which still didn't explain why Blossom was standing here and not running to escape.

"Hey!" Buttercup shook her sister's shoulders "Earth calls Blossom! I dunno, but that fight there is going to finish soon, and when that happens I want to be as far as possible from it!"

"Buttercup!" Blossom replied, visibly annoyed "Can't you see what's he doing to Fuzzy? He's not going to stop until he has _dusted_ him!"

"And then what?" Buttercup retorted. The intense stare Blossom fired at her made the black-haired puff reconsider her words.

"But Blossom, he's our enemy! You can't possibly be serious..."

"I know, Buttercup. But he's in trouble! We can't just ignore him and go away! He has helped us, in a way!"

Buttercup crossed her arms in annoyance: "All right, let's say we help him. What are we going to do when our powers are weakened?"

It wasn't Blossom the one who answered her. "I'd say you can't do a single _thing, _brat_"._

Before the two of them could see who the owner of the voice was, Buttercup was kicked away. The green girl wasn't able to control her flight and finished _directly _on Bubbles' ice prison.

Blossom stared at the incoming impact, too weak to fly and go help her sisters. She'd have turned her head to not see what was going to happen, but she couldn't move her look away. Buttercup passed out as soon as her head collided with the ice, and at the same time, the ice-prison crumbled. For a moment, Blossom thought that Bubbles would have been reduced to tiny shards like the ice she was blocked in, but luckily that didn't happen. The blue-eyed girl, wet from foot to head, shuddered violently for some seconds before passing out like her other sister. Her body, however, continued to shiver after she closed her eyes.

Blossom'd have ran to them, but at the moment she was aware of the fact that right now she couldn't. She tried to fly away, but her attempt ended in a short hop: most of her powers were still gone. So she did the only thing she could do. _Run._

_I have to put some distance between me and that beast! That should give me some time to think of a plan to save Buttercup and..._

Blossom couldn't think more as something hit her from her back. The pain flooded her undefended body and the redhead, losing control of her legs, collapsed on the ground. When she tried to sit up, she saw what was the cause of the hit.

Fuzzy's cousin was a stunning, and fearful, view. His height had slightly increased, and his skin, where it was visible, had reddened. He seemed to not care of the damage all over his body. All his focus now was on the red headed girl. And he wasn't _happy._

"I may get mad like a lumpkin..." the yeti explained "...but unlike them, I maintain control of myself when I do. Which is why my species is _superior _to both humans and lumpkins."

"But your attempt of escape, apart from being hopeless, has _doomed_ you. I'll show all of you why it's better not to annoy me before I deliver the full package... commencing with _you."_

Blossom crawled back, the surprise replaced with panic. She had no possible way to escape from that beast. He almost overcame them in smartness, speed and strength when they were normal, and now she was _weaker_ and he was _stronger_.

The yeti raised his hand and Blossom couldn't help to close her eyes shut. She didn't want to see what the creature was going to do. In fact, she didn't care what he was going to do. She only hoped that it wouldn't last long.

But instead of feeling the fingers of the beast around her, Blossom heard the noise of wood hitting something.

She opened her eyes to see a surprised yeti scratch his head. Some yards away from their side, stood Fuzzy Lumpkins. He wasn't well: leaving alone all the scratches, he was keeping his right arm fixed to his body with his other arm. That didn't stop him from throwing another piece of his former house at his cousin, though. However, it had no effect apart from angering the creature even more.

The yeti snorted and glared at the lumpkin. "Impressive. You still want to fight after I've almost broken every one of your bones... Really impressive. But I'm tired of your stubbornness, Fuzzy. I'm going to finish this story _now, _like it ended long time ago..."

The yeti began walking towards him with long steps. Blossom was shouting with her stare: _'Move, Fuzzy. Move! Do something!'_. But for some reason, the lumpkin didn't _move_. His face somewhat softened, and the blood red color of his fur began returning to his usual state. But what really hit Blossom was Fuzzy's face. The angry frown had been replaced with a look full of sorrow.

Blossom watched with wide eyes as the yeti finally stopped his pace, a step from the lumpkin. Fuzzy barely budged when he did so.

The redhead shook her head: _Focus, Blossom, focus! There must be something you can do! Anything!_

She quickly pondered her various choices. She had to do something _now, _when the yeti was distracted, or it'd be the end for Fuzzy, her and her sisters. _But what can I do? My powers are gone! I can't use any of them: eyebeams, super strength, ice-breath, whirl winds..._

_Wait a second_, Blossom thought. Actually, when she used her ice-breath, she didn't control it. She just made a long breath and released the air, which for some reason was not only doubled in volume but also freezing cold. She didn't felt any real use of energy.

It was a crazy idea: to use one of the powers the yeti's owned against him, in a weaker version to make things worse. But Blossom had no other possible options. She at least had to try. In a sense, she was fighting fire with fire.

The yeti, ignoring the girl behind him, seized the lumpkin by the neck. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a presence which you wouldn't expect on a lumpkin's face. A _tear_.

But the yeti smirked at the sight. "Lost all the hope, cousin? Good. I'll grant you a fast death, then..." he said.

The creature approached Fuzzy's face with his free hand, and suddenly, he drew out a set of hidden claws. They were different from Fuzzy's ones: these looked like they could pierce through stone like it was cheese.

"Farewell, Fuzzy! I hope you'll find the peace you need in the otherworld!" the yeti pronounced as the claws dangerously moved towards Fuzzy's neck. The lumpkin didn't move, neither he tried to react or free himself in an extreme attempt to escape. He faced the upcoming death with sad eyes, like he wasn't really aware of what was happening.

The yeti was going to execute him when he heard a noise right behind him. A suspicious one. His experienced hearing told him that it was a heavy breath made by someone.

He turned his head without letting Fuzzy away, and he was greeted by a sight that almost made him, an experienced hunter, gasp in shock. The pink-eyed Powerpuff Girl, having recovered another part of her powers, was hovering behind him. But he didn't know of the danger until Blossom unleashed all the air she could let out, which successfully turned into a big volume of ice-breath.

The yeti was prepared for anything, but not for having one of his own powers used against him. His mouth pursued and only the words "IT CAN'T..." could exit it before the freezing cold air enveloped him. Blossom exhaled air continuously for four seconds, until her lungs were empty and she gasped, feeling the urge to refill them.

When she was done and looked at the result of her decision, she couldn't believe it.

The yeti had become a huge, cold statue. Every part of his body was blocked in solid ice, even the hand that blocked a bewildered Fuzzy Lumpkins, who was still trying to process the fact that he was still alive. The creature was in a similar state Blossom's sister was before.

And that thought made Blossom blink. "Buttercup, Bubbles!" she called as she hovered away and looked for them.

It took her some seconds to localize her two sisters still laying on the ground. Blossom hovered towards them, still not able to use her flight powers at their maximum level. When she reached them, she landed on Buttercup's side and began shaking her.

"Buttercup! Buttercup! Can you hear me?" Blossom said, visibly worried. She stopped only when the green eyes of her sister finally opened. "Uuuuh... What? What's going on?"

"Buttercup! Are you all right?" Blossom asked.

"Ouch... I think I've lost some neurons today..." muttered Buttercup, still trying to catch her equilibrium. When she resumed to think correctly, something hit her: "Blossom!" she shouted "Where's Bubbles?"

The two of them turned their heads to the shivering form that was Bubbles' body. In the blink of an eye they were over her.

Bubbles was still knocked out, but her appearance was definitively making her sisters worried. Her skin had become incredibly pale, and her breaths were struggled ones.

Blossom didn't know exactly what she had to do. She supposed that the best action now was to maintain her blonde sister awake.

"Bubbles. Bubbles, wake up!" Blossom called as she shook her like she did with Buttercup. Her blue-eyed sister gave no response.

It was then Buttercup's turn. She abruptly pushed Blossom away and smacked Bubbles in the face. Of course she did it lightly, but it was enough to make Bubbles recover her senses.

The blue puff slightly opened her eyes, which instantly fixed on her sisters with an intense stare. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out from it apart from a wheeze. Slowly, her arms circled her own body, like she wanted to keep as mush heat as possible inside her.

The shivers that shook Bubbles' body were worrying Blossom. She remembered about something she had read about the effects cold temperatures could have on a person, which went under the name of hypothermy. They weren't pretty. The leader girl quickly undresses her coat and put it around Bubbles body. Buttercup watched her oddly at first, but then followed her lead and did the same.

While her sisters, left with their usual dresses, began to feel the first hints of the coldness, Bubbles looked like a little ball of clothes now, her head the only thing left uncovered. But still, she didn't stop to tremble. Actually, she was beginning to let some light sobs out now.

_This isn't working! We have to bring her to some warm place before... _thought Blossom until she saw something that utterly astonished her.

Fuzzy Lumpkins was standing in front of them, right behind Bubbles. Someway he had managed to free himself from the frozen gasp of his cousin. Although he had been totally beaten up, he wasn't angry nor nervous. In fact, his face was _sad_.

The beast moved his hand towards Bubbles, which put Buttercup on the alert. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, idiot?"

She would have tried to stop him if it wasn't for Blossom's pat on her shoulder. The green puff raised an eyebrow at her sister, but Blossom just watched her with a soothing stare and nodded at Fuzzy. Deep inside, the redhead knew that by now the beast wasn't going to harm a fly.

Which actually happened. To be more precise, what the Powerpuff Girls saw would have stuck on their minds for a good while.

Fuzzy Lumpkins, the raged hillbilly, the unsocial worker, the lonesome villain... gently cuddled Bubbles's head and took her from the ball of clothes she was closed in.

Blossom and Buttercup weren't able to comment. On the other side, Bubbles was too weak to react, so she let Fuzzy do what he wanted.

The beast lifted the little blonde girl and put her on his chest, like he would have done with a child of his breed. He kept her in this position for some long minutes, with no sign of boredom or annoyance. He remained simply _quiet._

Only when Bubbles' shivers started to disappear, the lumpkin slowly put her down, helping her until he was sure she could stand properly.

Blossom and Buttercup exchanged a quick glance, like they wanted to say 'Did you see what I did?'. Then they approached their other sister. Not only Bubbles' body seemed to have stop shivering, but also her skin had gained some warm colour. The thick fur that protected the lumpkin's body had the effect the girls' clothes couldn't achieve.

Bubbles watched her new, unexpected saviour. She was as bewildered as her sisters, if not more. There was only one thing she knew she had to do.

"Thank you... Thank you, Fuzzy..."

Fuzzy Lumpkins abruptly turned to the opposite direction, and didn't seem to want to face the girls more.

"Fuzzy... Are you all right?" asked Blossom, curious about this new event.

"Go now" Fuzzy stated, his voice slightly annoyed.

"But Fuzzy..." Blossom began.

"Take that _filthy thing_ I'm condemned to call cousin and go 'way!" Fuzzy repeated, his voice raising in tone.

"Look, Fuzzy, you can't really expect us to just leave when you..." Buttercup complained.

"I SAID TO GET OFFA MY PROPERTY NOW!" Fuzzy shouted, his voice full of anger. He raised his arm and pointed at the direction that brought to the city, still not facing the girls.

The three puffs moved back, feeling a hazard, but Fuzzy didn't turn of a centimetre. He continued to look at some point in front of him and the girls weren't able to see his face.

"What's wrong with him?" Buttercup whispered in the ear of the pink puff.

"I don't know Buttercup..." Blossom answered "I think that it won't be easy to explain what he's just done. We better follow his advice and go away. Do you think the two of us can already carry all the thief over there?"

"Well, we'll discover only if we try" remarked Buttercup, inquisitively looking at the imprisoned yeti.

Blossom focused on her other sister: "And you, do you think you can fly? We'll only need to hover for now, don't worry about your speed."

"I think so..." whispered Bubbles, her voice still weak. She made an attempt to hover up and eventually succeeded in maintaining a steady position in the air.

"Ok, let's go!" Blossom ordered. The three of them moved towards the statue of ice. With some struggle, Blossom and Buttercup were able to lift up the bounty hunter and carry him up over the trees. Bubbles followed them, and after some seconds they were over the forest heading for Townsville. They didn't hear a single word of goodbye from Fuzzy.

* * *

_Epilogue_

The Chief of Police was sipping from a good, hot coffee, taking a break from the case of the theft at the Art Museum. The black man brushed his moustaches as he thought over all the information they owned at the moment. There was really no evidence at the museum, and the witness hadn't helped much. All their hope now was put on the Powerpuff Girls, which he supposed should have discovered something at the moment, with the snowstorm gone and the light fading in favour of the night.

He wouldn't say that, especially in front of his fellow policemen, but he was getting worried.

Lost in his thoughts, the Chief didn't see a sweating Perez running towards his office. The officer didn't even try to knock to the door as he broke into the room, nearly making the Chief fall from his chair.

"PEREZ!" the Chief shouted "I hope for you it's something important!"

"It is, Chief!" Perez informed, still panting "The Powerpuff Girls are out there in the street! They brought some type of winter giant monkey with them!"

"WHAT!?" The Chief exclaimed. After a minute, he was exiting the police station with his raincoat on.

He watched in disbelief as he saw the scene. The Powerpuff Girls were on the sideway, with some policemen discussing loudly around them. The black man couldn't really tell from the distance, but he could imagine they weren't totally ok.

The most stunning sight, however, was the giant ice statue located in the centre of the street. There were already some drivers that, blocked from the weird obstacle, began playing their horns in annoyance. Some policemen were already carrying some metal barriers from the police station to enclose the statue.

In a second, all the points were linked, and the Chief of Police realized that the Powerpuff Girls had just captured the uncommon thief they were looking for.

With Perez still following him, the Chief approached the superheroines. The group of officers immediately stopped arguing when they saw him.

"So, it seems like we got another monster here, huh?" the Chief remarked, smiling at the girls. The smile disappeared as he realized that the girls weren't in good shape. Especially the blue-eyed one, he didn't like at all those shivers and the _hachooos _she let out.

"Hey, what are you discussing up there that is more important than to help the girls?" the Chief asked with a frown on his face.

"Ehhr, Chief... We don't know if we have to call for an ambulance or to aid them now, and..."

"DO BOTH OF THEM!"

The group of policemen quickly scattered, everyone doing a different activity. The Chief sighed as he rethought about the general quality of the police quarters, but it wasn't his main problem at the moment.

"I ask you forgiveness, girls. If I'd knew you were in this state, I'd have right away prepared something for you."

"It's ok, Chief, we-we at last managed to capture our th-thief..." Bubbles stammered, smiling at him.

"And I should say, _what a thief. _Do you know what he wanted to do with the art pieces he stole?" the Chief investigated.

"He set a trap for us..." Blossom answered.

The Chief nearly felt the coffee he had just drunk go up into his mouth.

"He said he was some kind of bounty hunter, and that he wanted to sell us after we were captured..."

"Thank goodness that stupid yeti didn't bring us away..." Buttercup muttered.

"Wait a minute!" Perez interjected "Did he perhaps say he had already done that same thing with other superheroes?"

Bubbles and Buttercup didn't know anything, so they were a bit surprised to hear Blossom say "Yes, he said that".

"Then, Chief, what we have there is not only an abominable snowman, but also a international criminal which is wanted in various States across the world..."

"How do you know of that, Perez?" the Chief asked, perplexed.

"Errm... I do follow the deeds of the superheroes in the United States and beyond, I'm kinda enthusiast about'em... So I heard about the disappearance of some superheroes, I did some research in the police data, and I found out about this guy... Even though I didn't know he was a _yeti._"

"Interesting, Perez. You don't appear to be the daydreaming man I thought of. Now get out of here and call the ones who're going to take care of that monkey-thing there!"

"Yes sir!" Perez acknowledged as he ran away towards the entrance of the police station.

"Yet, here's a man who's a bit distracted but has a golden heart. I'd rather have more like him than those stupid heads out there..." the Chief mumbled as he turned to the girls.

"So, all is well that ends well. I can sense it was hard to defeat the monster there..."

The girls exchanged glances before Blossom decided how to reply. "Let's just say... without the help of a certain person, we won't be there."

The Chief raised an eyebrow at the enigmatic response, but he decided he didn't want to bother the girls more: "All right, I think there'll be plenty of time to tell me what happened after you recovered. I'll see you later girls. Holmes! Get that butt of yours moving, we don't have all the day!"

The girls looked at the Chief while he continued to give orders here and there. Seconds later some policemen gave them some coats and blankets to keep them warm, and then escorted them into the warmness of the police station's hall.

Here the girls waited for an ambulance to arrive. They weren't really worried, their powers, although they had not completely returned, still helped them in regaining their strength and healing their scratches. Blossom and Buttercup were more concerned with Bubbles and the near hypothermia she reached back at Fuzzy's home.

Speaking of the lumpkin, the girl's minds were turned on the beast by now.

"We'll have a lot of to talk with the Professor..." Bubbles commented, trying to start a conversation.

"Indeed, Bubbles. We should have someone tell him we're safe now by the way" Blossom added. Bubbles nodded as she sipped from a hot cup of chocolate a officer offered her before.

"Blossom..." the redhead turned to face her black-haired sister "Do you think that Fuzzy lost his mind?"

"It would be a good explanation Buttercup..." Blossom answered. "Before you woke up, I was already awoke and I listened to a conversation between Fuzzy and his cousin. He showed him about all the possibilities he had without us in the way, and for a moment, he looked like he was going to let him away. But then, out of nowhere, he attacked him. I know he's really attached to his property, but still..."

"If it's like you are telling us, then he's definitively nuts..." Buttercup muttered.

"I think there's more of it, Buttercup" Bubbles said "I mean, did you see what he _did _with me? Did you ever see do him something like that with his nephews that time we went camping, leaving alone with his worst enemies?"

Buttercup shook her head. "For what we can know..." Blossom continued "...the thing he cared the most in the world was his banjo, and still he didn't treat it like a little kid."

"Exactly. What I'm thinking about, Blossom, is that the yeti had brought something up in Fuzzy's head... Something enough important to make him mad even with that speech you said the yeti told him, and to make him act like he did with me" Bubbles finished.

"But do you remember when he went away? He shouted at us as he always does, didn't he?" Buttercup objected.

"Yes, but he didn't face us, like he hadn't the courage to do so." Bubbles replied "Whatever was going on in his mind, it has showed us a part of Fuzzy we won't be able to see often, I think...Looks like even Fuzzy does have a _heart, _after all."

Blossom and Buttercup didn't find any flaws in Bubbles' line of reasoning, though the latter did roll her eyes at the last sentence. They watched Bubbles thoughtfully when they realized that her face had changed to form a little smile. The blonde Powerpuff Girl was thinking of the moment Fuzzy had warmed her with his own heat. She found that terribly cute, even more from someone like the lumpkin.

That memory was going to stick to their minds for a good while, wasn't it?

"Hey, wait a second..." blurted out Buttercup with wide eyes as he remembered about a little detail "...what about the art pieces?"

* * *

The darkness was almost total in the forest. There was complete silence, stopped from time to time by the call of some animal that hadn't yet fallen in hibernation.

Fuzzy Lumpkins was laying on his former armchair, which he had previously extracted from a good volume of debris, staring at the black sky above him. Winter wasn't exactly the perfect season to watch the stars, but Fuzzy was still able to catch some of them.

He had to rest for a while. Not that he cared about his injures, these were mere scratches for him, and his bones would work themselves out. He'll survive. The reason of why he needed to rest was his mind.

"_I'm going to finish this story now, like it ended long time ago..."_

He didn't want to remember. He was good with his hut, his banjo, and his occasional rampages in the city. Heck, he could have passed over the Powerpuff Girls if he knew. But here his cousin arrived, bringing with him remembrance.

The fact was that lumpkins and yetis were two separate lines of breed of the same human-like beast. They were closer to each other than to any human or animal, but at the same time they were complete _enemies. _They'd fought each other for decades before Fuzzy was born, oblivious to most of the humans.

That fight was still continuing during Fuzzy's early years. And in that exact time it _happened._

Another tiny tear escaped from the hillbilly's eyes, which he quickly brushed it off. He had to stay serious, he was a lumpkin for god's sake! But it was too much for him.

It was a little event, but that small raid at a simple family reunion had modified Fuzzy's life. He had lost friends there. He had lost relatives. Thank goodness his father and mother had survived at the time, but it didn't cover the loss of the others.

And destiny wanted that stupid monkey-face, in a younger version, to be the one to actually break into his hiding place and almost kill him.

It was only luck that the yeti was distracted by a call of his mates and he decided to spare him. The monster asked him his name, and told him that it was his lucky day.

"_But don't sing in victory, little lumpkin. Sooner or later, I'll find you, I'll return, and I'll demand you a welcome appropriate for a king: if you won't do what I ask you, I'll be disappointed and that won't be good for you, not at all. Keep that in mind! Goodbye... cousin!"_

Fuzzy didn't really believe his words until today. How could a single yeti track him down to a place completely different from the last time he saw him, without any trail to follow?

It was in fact only another joke of destiny that wanted the creature to became a bounty hunter and look for the Powerpuff Girls, which brought his cousin right in front of his house.

Fuzzy stood up from the chair and wore a serious expression. Enough remembrance for today. If he wasn't able to forget it, he'll at least try to not let that influence him. He was a respected lumpkin inside the family, and in his book that wasn't going to change.

Nobody was going to know about his little secret, about the fact that he could feel love for persons other than objects (and Jo, of course). Fuzzy believed that his cousin wasn't going to be a problem: he could think about a few things that humans were going to do to him if they discovered what he had done. But the girls...

They already had seen something they shouldn't have seen. Stupid, blue girl! What was wrong with him? He was Fuzzy Lumpkins, the merciless hillbilly! He should have shooed them away without any remorse.

But his mind didn't follow his orders, and he did what he felt was the right thing to do at the time. Fuzzy walked away, making a decision. He wasn't going to question more what happened: he was only going to make sure that won't happen again. Starting with a trap for unwelcomed visitors... which were _all_ of them.

He sighed as he began thinking about where to pass the winter and how to build a new house when the bad season had passed, when he stumbled on something. He watched down and realized it was the hatch to the basement he used to hibernate. He quickly opened it (the lock was broken, anyway) and he entered the room. Some steps after, he collided with something.

"Gah! What's this thing?" the lumpkin complained, touching something solid in front of him. He moved in the darkness, impacting with various new objects he didn't remember to have put there, and he spent some more minutes to reach a side of the basement, pick up some wood, and arrive to the fireplace on the opposite side. Here, he cleaned away the ash and replaced it with the new wood he was carrying, and finally lit the fire up with a lighter found in his suspenders. When he turned to see what his basement was full of, he opened his mouth in shock.

"Argh! What's all this junk? Darn _garbage_!"

Fuzzy Lumpkins abruptly grabbed a precious statue and threw it through the trapdoor. The statue flied for some meters before landing to the ground and breaking itself apart.

"Stupid cousin! He destroys my property, he makes me lose my mind, and then he fills my basement with GARBAGE!" Fuzzy shouted as he threw away a masterpiece on canvas, which lost all his colour as it landed on the snow.

And so Fuzzy continued in this way, complaining about anyone and destroying almost the entire art collection of Townsville's city museum. Also known as _'garbage'_.

**THE END**


End file.
